Clasp



(No Model.)

' H. W. BUOKLAND.

CLASP.

Patented Jan. 17, 1888. 8'

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY w. BUCKLAND, 0E WATERBUR CONNECTICUT.

CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part.- of Letters Patent No. 376,578, dated January 17, 1888.

Application filed July 25, 1887. Serial No. 245,171. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beitknown that I, HARRY W. BUCKLAND, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vaterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clasps; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of Clasps used in connection with garment-supporters, more especially in supporting ladies and childrens stockings, and is an improvement upon the invention described in my former Letters Patent No. 361,984, dated April 26, 1887, the object being to improve the construction and mode of operation in use without in any way adding to the cost of manufacture. With this end in view I have devised the simple and novel construction of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, numbers being used to denote the several parts. I I

Figure l is an elevation illustrating my novel clasp secured to a piece of textile web; Fig. 2, a similar view illustrating the manner in which a fold of a stocking or other garment is inserted in the clasp, and Fig. 3 is a similar View illustrating the manner in which the fold is held in use.

My novel clasp is adapted to be struck complete from a strip of sheet metal.

1 denotes the body, which may be of any suitable shape or size. Themetal from the central portion of the body is removed, leaving an opening, 2.

3 denotes a tongue projecting from one side of the body,which lies in thesame plane therewith and extends down into the lower end of the opening,leaving the upper portionof the opening clear for the insertion of a fold or an edge of a garment, as will presently be more fully explained. The exact shape of this tongue is not of the essence of my invention. 1 preferably, however, round the lower end,

as shown in the drawings, the opening at the. lower end of the body conforming to the shape of the lower end of the tongue, the metal forming the tongue being merely detached from the bodyat the lower end and left attached at the side, as is clearly shown. 'The upper end of the body is preferably straight across, or nearly so, and the web 4 of the supporter is simply passed through the opening and stitched in the usual manner, as is clearly shown.

In use the edge of a stocking or other garment or a fold thereof is caught between the thumb and finger and passed through the upper portion of the opening above the tongue, as clearly shown in Fig.2. The fold is then drawn down between the lower end of the body and. the lower end of the tongue, the lower end of the body lying over the material of the garment and the fold lying over the end of thetongue. As soon as the fold of garment is released it is firmly grasped between the end of the tongue and the lower end of the body. It is thus rendered impossible to remove the fold of the garment from the clasp by direct pull, as the stronger the pull the more tightly the tongue is drawn down upon the portion of the material of the garment lying between the end of the tongue and the inner edge of the lower end of the body.

It will be seen from Fig. 3 that the upper end of the fold covers the lower end of the tongue and acts to draw it inward when strain is applied. The tongue, however, cannotbe drawn through the opening, asaportion of the fold lies under the tonguethat is, between it and the inner edge of the lower portion of the body. The construction is such that although the finest and lightest of stockings are held firmly there is no danger whatever of the clasp either cutting or tearing them. To remove the fold of garment from the clasp it is simply necessary to relieve the strain and draw the fold of garment upward into the opening above the tongue, as in Fig. 2, from whence it slips out without obstruction.

Having thus described my invention, I claim The clasp herein described, consisting of a body having an opening and a tongue projecting inward from one side and extending down into the lower end of the opening, so that the upper portion of the opening is left clear for the insertion of a. fold of a garment, 5 which in the engaged position lies over the tongue and between the end of the tongue Witnesses: and the inner edge of the lower portion of A. M. "WOOsTER, the opening. 0. E. RUGGLES.

In testimony whereofI affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HARRY W. BUGKLAND. 

